The only performer who specializes
in blowing bubbles using only his hands, Sterling Johnson was trained
as an engineer and a lawyer. His bubble blowing to entertain friends
over 30 years ago has developed into a full stage show.

Sterling is the only person
to ever put a bubble inside a bubble inside a bubble on stage without
any straws or tubes, and the first person to walk completely through
a bubble film. He explains it this way, "When a hand is soapy,
you can slide it right into a bubble because the bubbles respond as
if your hand is part of them. I had a fantasy of getting entirely soapy
and walking into or out of a vey large bubble. We tried it at the second
and third Exploratorium Bubble Festivals in the 1980s. I stripped down
to my bathing suit and bathing cap, was drenched with detergent, and
Richard Faverty waved huge bubbles over me as I attempted to walk out
through the film. Although the bubble often popped just as my last foot
was coming out, I got credit for having succeeded by the end."

His favorite bubble story
comes from
when he was volunteering
at a school for severely retarded children when he was in engineering
school. He says, "There was an autistic girl who gave very little
reaction to anything going on around her. I made some half-sphere bubbles
on a soapy formica table top for some of the kids, letting those who
were able to play with the bubbles I had made. All of a sudden, the
girl's eyes seemed clearer, and she became engaged with the igloo-like
bubbles that were in front of her. She played with the them, touched
them, and was interested in their popping. Her teacher said it was the
only time that had ever happened. It was pretty touching to be present
for that."

Sterling has appeared in
Smithsonian and Omni magazines, and is a featured artist
in Klutz's The Unbelievable Bubble Book.

Get
more information about Sterling Johnson on his website.
See a video of him at QuakeCon 2006 here.